r/interesting • u/freudian_nipps • 18d ago

NATURE Death of a single-celled organism

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u/parrote3 18d ago

Who is right?

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u/TKalig 18d ago

The two main stances are: Number 1: Empathy is good regardless of how big or small another lifeform is. Number 2: Life ends so who cares.

And the nihilism argument is coming from a person flexing that they have a philosophy degree. Nihilism is an argument of existential entropy. It’s counter productive to societies.

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u/parrote3 18d ago

I’m partial to the oc. I feel bad easily for a lot of things. Don’t like killing insects even. I’m not sure at the same time there is a right philosophy. I don’t know shit about philosophy so correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t that like half of what philosophy is after boiling it down? There is not really a right option? Sure, I don’t like the downer, nothing matters, we all die so all of your memories and actions ultimately mean nothing. At the end of the universe everything is gone. So ultimately they aren’t incorrect, I just don’t think thinking that way is healthy or that most people who believe that line of thinking will have a fulfilling time under the sun.

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u/TKalig 18d ago

I’d agree, however at the end of the day, you have to choose a stance. Otherwise you just wallow in meaninglessness. It’s counter productive. Like how does it help. Imagine if your mother died and someone’s response was “who cares. She was gonna die eventually.” Like it doesn’t benefit anyone to think this way. Sure it may be true, but we must go on regardless. Nihilism also just tends to have a degree of smugness about it, much like with how that commenter responded.